Why do we make quilts?
The
reason has evolved as women have evolved in society. This practical craft of
recycling clothing scraps to make warm blankets, has a history around the world
from America to Japan
and beyond, because fabric is precious and we hate to throw away something
that can be reworked into something useful or beautiful.
Most women have
forgotten what the Suffragettes went through to
win the right for women to vote. That was one stepping stone as women began to
dream about having their own careers, and throughout the Twentieth Century we
remade the idea of what it means to be a woman in the world.
Today our
daughters grow up in a world where equality is often taken for granted, even
though there are plenty
of women around the world who still don't have the rights that our girls and
young women assume are here for the taking.
I've been thinking about how
quilting has evolved along with feminism. It has changed along with us – from a
necessity to something that could be perceived as a luxury. (Buying fabrics and
collecting a stash, making creative and artistic quilts, instead of using scraps
for a patchwork blanket to keep out the cold.)
Sheryl Sandberg is on the
cover of Time
Magazine this week, and her
book excerpt discusses how success can equal unlikability for women, and
also how many women are still trying to achieve the impossible goal of " having it
all". No matter how hard we try, we often will feel like we are missing out
on something. It is difficult to feel completely content with our lives, no
matter how much we accomplish, and no matter how much we try to let go and just
BE.
Quilting helps us with this conundrum. When a sister has breast
cancer and we feel helpless, we make her a beautiful healing quilt. When friends
suffer a terrible loss, we make comfort quilts to remind them of our love and
support. When a community suffers a trauma
such as Hurricane Sandy, the larger community comes together to send quilt
relief… the equivalent of a group hug.
Life is messy, and much of it is
out of our control, but when you make a quilt you have time to sort it all out
in your head, and by the time your healing quilt is finished, you've received a
healing in the process of making the quilt. As women's confidence and freedom
has progressed, we have given ourselves permission to use quilting and sewing as
Art Therapy. Instead of feeling guilty about making art, we embrace the process
as a journey of self discovery.
Many years ago I heard a statistic about
how many corporate women were turning to crafts for stress relief. Quilting,
sewing, painting, knitting, crocheting and other arts and crafts have been
embraced by a new generation of working women, as they discover what so many
mature quilters knew already.
When you make something for someone who is
hurting, it heals your own heart.
When you make something beautiful, it
reveals the beauty of your own soul.
**
This image above is a detail of the quilt "Imagine" from the Tokyo
Quilt Festival in January 2013.
* SAQA & Andover Fabrics Call for Entries *
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I’m so glad I took time to read your blog entry on my eQuilter email today. Your words about why we quilt really resonated with me in light of my experiences this past school year. I’ve been an elementary school teacher now for 13 years and I felt I was defined by my job. I literally lived my life focused on teaching, leaving little time for myself. I’ve had health problems this year and I’ve had to take a year off to put myself back together. An important part of my healing process has been getting back to my roots as a quilter and making quilts for those whom I care about. One of the lovely things about making a quilt is to think about the recipient with every stitch. Women are naturally endowed with the nature to nurture and quilting has given me an opportunity to do this again.
To the list of stress relief, nurturing, and creating art I would add connecting and honoring. I never thought of quilting even though I’ve been sewing since I was a child until I was given an old tattered quilt made by my great grandmother. I was overwhelmed by the stories my mother told me of watching Granny Leigh and the neighbor ladies letting down the quilting frame from the ceiling and quilting the tops that Granny Leigh made all by hand because she was afraid of the new fangled electricity. This was in the 1930s and 40s. Granny Leigh still used an old metal iron heated on a stove top fueled by fire. These quilts came from a ?rag bag? that Granny Leigh kept constantly by her chair side. Mom said that anything and everything used was cut up and put in that bag. With these stories and this worn, used, tattered quilt I sat down and taught myself to quilt. With my own quilts now, I feel connected to my past and see my work as something that will live after me into the future. It is such a wonderful, powerful feeling to run my hands across the fabric I have sewn together into a lovely creation and think that someone else, that I may not live to know, will do the same touching the past, the present and the future.
Your photo of the Japanese “Imagine” quilt just sparked an idea for some sewing I’m doing. Thanks for all the inspiration and education you put into your posts!
There are as many reasons to make a quilt as there are women. And what drives us can be a desire to comfort others ,or ourselves, or express emotions or opinions or just see what if? We all love the feel of fabric and make quilts to find satisfaction of some kind. The history of women continues – we still wish for equality, peace and acceptance, whether it’s in our roles as citizens, artists or family members.
It’s interesting to look at women’s history and the history of quilts. There are so many variables – income level, generation, historical context. Thanks for getting us thinking!